


What You Bean To Me

by timetobegin



Category: Call Me Katie (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, The Big One, coffee shop AU, george squared, here it is, the one we've all been waiting for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 18:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4676495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timetobegin/pseuds/timetobegin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Is a fandom even a fandom if it doesn't have a Coffee Shop AU? I think not.</p><p>Thanks to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ann_Knightley">Ann_Knightley</a> for the prompt, and <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibbsch/pseuds/Bibbsch">the Gleeson to my Bates</a> for the awesome betaing and general George Squared squeeing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nice to meet you, where you bean

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cones_McMurphy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cones_McMurphy/gifts).



The morning Bates first laid eyes on George Gleeson was basically like any other: amazing. There was nothing special about Bates’s smile as he glanced out the window at the sun peeking over the horizon. His footsteps had the same bounce, his whistle the same cheer. He arrived at The Busy Bean (a name he adored with his whole pun loving heart) five minutes early, turned the key in the lock, and flipped on the lights. His favorite radio station always played chill acoustics early in the morning, the perfect accompaniment for the soft sunlight just beginning to filter through the windows. After dumping the first bag of beans in the grinder, Bates allowed himself two minutes to lean against the counter and enjoy the smell. He hated the taste of coffee, and he almost never needed the help to wake up, but he _loved_ the smell.

 

A jingle of bells announced Katie’s arrival.

 

“Good morning!” he called, trying to keep from his voice the chipper-ness she detested so much before 10 a.m.

 

“Nothing good about it,” came the customary reply as she slid the lock into place. She set her “Male Tears” to-go mug in their secret counter spot, the only place where they could store beverages so the customers couldn’t see.

 

Bates shook his head, grinning. He could never quite understand why other people didn’t love getting up early as much as he did. An early morning meant a big day full of possibilities (or a big day full of video games, which is just as good). He loved waking up with the sun, with birds and the Avengers theme music as his personal soundtrack for getting ready for the day. Most other people could not fucking stand it, and Katie had on more than one occasion called him an “actual Disney princess” with all the scorn she could muster. Bates took it as a compliment. Plus, it made him the perfect morning coffee shop employee.

 

(In all honesty, he has no idea how he talked the owner into giving Katie the job.)

 

At 6 a.m. sharp, there was a polite tap on the glass, and Bates unlocked the door and greeted their first customer of the day with a grin.

 

“Ellen, top of the morning to you.”

 

“And to you, my dear boy.”

 

Despite her age, Ellen walked briskly to the counter, where Katie had her order ready with an actual smile. It was impossible not to like the woman, especially once she’d regaled the two with stories of her “scandalous” past of feminist activism. Bates is pretty sure she knew he was queer before he did. No, scratch that, she definitely knew he was queer before he did. In their chats on slow mornings, she had both gently and bluntly prodded him towards that realization. Now that he was out and comfortable (seriously, once he started making “pan” puns, everything got better), he’d even gone along with her to some gatherings of an all ages LGBTQA+ group she’d started herself with her partner of thirty years. (Fuck. Abbott.)

 

She took her coffee and her scone to a table near the counter so they could freely chat as she read through the morning paper.

 

The morning passed away pretty uneventfully, with Bates taking orders and writing them on the cups for Katie, who didn’t suffer fools well and was instructed to stay far from the paying customers. The roles suited she and Bates just fine.

 

The morning rush came and went. By 10:30, Katie was finally a fully functioning human and most people still in the shop had settled in for a long haul. They were right near the university Bates and Katie went to, and many students and professors set up camp when they had a few hours to spare.

 

Bates made himself a mug of tea and was about to take his break when the most adorable guy walked in. He had a mop of hair and a smile sweet enough to make Bates’s heart pound. He had a sort of lilting walk (maybe something wrong with his leg?), which gave Bates enough time to hide his nervousness and turn up the charm. Just a bit.

 

“A good morning to you, sir,” he said with a half formal tone and a slight bow. Okay, so maybe his nervousness was not under control. But the guy grinned, so it can’t have been a total wash.

 

“Good morning to you,” his eyes flicked down to Bates’s nametag, and his eyes lit up. “George. That’s my name, too!”

 

The dorkiest part of Bates wanted to raise his hand for a high five and shout “NAME TWINS!” at the top of his lungs, but he contained himself. He offered his fist for a bump instead. “Nice.”

 

The other George accepted, but then said, “I never quite got these. I’m more of a high five person, myself.”

 

Could he _be_ any more perfect? (Yes, there was a voice in his head that sometimes sounded like Chandler Bing. Get over it.)

 

“Me too, but we might startle the nice people.” They grinned at one another for a few more seconds before Bates realized he had a job to do besides flirting. (He hoped it was flirting.) “What brings you here on this fine morning?”

 

“Peace, quiet, and caffeine. My roommate is working on some new songs, and I have an exam in two days.” His eyes finally left Bates’s and scanned the menu. “What here tastes the most like chocolate, but will keep me awake through the most boring music theory textbook ever written?”

 

“I happen to be an expert in the realm of coffee that tastes like chocolate, so I have just the thing for you. If you don’t like it, it’s on me.” He scribbled _mocha w/ extra mocha_ on the cup, then after a moment’s hesitation, wrote _Hey there, how do you brew?_ underneath, and handed the cup over to Katie. “My associate will have your beverage ready in two ticks,” he told George, in the same formal tone.

 

“Why thank you, sir,” he replied with a slight bow. “Have a lovely day.”

 

When Katie handed him the cup, Bates watched closely over his own mug to see what kind of man this fellow was. You could tell a lot about people by how they react to puns.

 

Turned out, he was a stare-right-at-you-like-he's-staring-into-the-camera-on-The-Office kind of guy. “Really?”

 

Bates couldn’t contain his grin. “Really really.” George shook his head and went to sit. Rather close, Bates noticed. At Ellen’s table, actually. He took that as a good sign.

 

A little too close, considering Katie sidled up next to him with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Is it just me, or do I smell something _brewing_?”

 

Never one to turn down a horrible pun, even if it was at his expense, he grinned. He seemed to be doing a bit more of that than usual today, even for him. “Eyy!”

 

“I’m going to have to come up with more material, because that’s hardly going to be your last en _counter_.”

 

“That was a little weak.”

 

“Yeah, I know. I’m improvising here. And if I’m gonna have to deal with you making googly eyes for the rest of our shift, I get to go on break first.” With that, she hung her apron on a peg in the back, grabbed her coffee mug (which magically managed to stay full no matter how much she drank), and headed out the back, leaving Bates alone for fifteen minutes. Totally fine by him, since he was mostly doing refills. And it gave him time to examine (NOT make googly eyes at, Jesus) George.

 

His last name was Gleeson, according to the front of his notebook, which he flipped open along with his textbook after securing a pair of nice-looking headphones over his ears. He fidgeted way less than Bates ever did while working, only occasionally bobbing his head to his music, writing something down, or flipping a page. He wasn’t particularly interesting in any conventional way, but Bates couldn’t stop. There was something about his intense focus that drew his eyes, and the fact that his face was draped in golden sunlight was just a bonus.

 

“Oi. Loverboy,” came a too-loud voice behind him. Bates jerked, and then looked around. Katie was back from her break. Had he been staring this entire time? “Are you going to take fifteen, or stand there like a lovesick puppy?”

 

“Keep your voice down.”

 

“Why? He’s wearing headphones.”

 

“There are other people here.”

 

“Is Bates embarrassed about his crush?”

 

Grabbing his mug, he stuck his tongue out at her and stalked out the door. Coming out to Katie had been insanely easy, much easier than he thought it would be. Much easier than coming out to anyone else in his life (except Ellen, but she didn't count). But now she teased him about every boy he gave a second glance to. (Not that she didn’t do that with girls, too. Whatever.) Usually he just laughed it off, because he wasn’t usually attracted to people at first sight. Usually he needed to be friends with the person first, or at least have a decently long conversation with them. But the fatal combination of George Gleeson’s general adorableness and their instant chemistry tricked Bates’s brain into thinking he’d known him all his life. Or something.

 

He tried to take a sip of tea, realized it was cold, and sighed. A glance at his watch told him that two minutes had passed. Bates was determined to stay outside for the full fifteen, partly because his feet needed the break, and partly because he didn’t want to put up with Katie if he came back in early.

 

But what if George Gleeson wanted a refill or something?

 

Bates banged his head back against the brick wall.

 

He tried to amuse himself with Tumblr, and it worked as well as anything could, but the seconds seemed to individually stop and say hello before they decided to tick by. But finally, finally, he could go back inside without running the risk of Katie making kissy noises in his general direction.

 

George Gleeson came up to the counter just as Bates finished dumping his cold mug of tea. Bates tried not to be too disheartened by the fact that all his stuff was packed away and his bag was slung back over his shoulders.

 

“That was actually delicious. I would throw it on the floor and demand another, but I don’t think it would go over so well. It wouldn’t shatter, for one thing. Plus, I don’t have the biceps to make it look quite as impressive, so I’ll just stick with the conventional method of using my words.” He held out the cup for Bates to take.

 

Was he actually making Thor references? And did the biceps comment mean he found guys attractive, or he was just one of the few straight men who didn’t have pitifully fragile masculinity?

 

Bates realized too late that he was grinning a bit like a fool and doing the nervous thing with his hand on the back of his head and Katie was going to roast him for that, for sure. And then he realized he still hadn’t taken the used cup. He felt heat rising in his face as he grabbed it, thanking his parents and anyone who might be listening for his dark coloring. Katie whisked the cup away with a barely-concealed smirk while Bates tried to recover his dignity.

 

“I appreciate the Marvel-ous reference.”

 

“Oh God. Every conversation, is it gonna go like this?”

 

“You better believe it.” Did that mean he was planning on coming back?

 

George Gleeson shook his head, grabbed his cup from Katie, raised it at Bates, then was gone.

 

“Just so you know,” Katie began the minute the bells stopped jingling, “he finished his coffee like five minutes into your break, then kept checking his watch until you got back. My gaydar doesn’t have the best track record, but all the signs point to 100% interested in you.”

 

Bates smiled. Katie could be a pain in the arse, but she could be the best wingwoman when she wanted to be.

 

“I’ll give you a week of being a chicken, then I’m asking him out for you.”

 

“You know that’s not really how I work. I don’t know him at all.”

 

“ _Please._ If you’re not best friends in a week, I’ve never been right about anything in my entire life. And if you don’t fall for him after that, I will stop giving you my opinion because clearly it is worthless.”

 

He groaned and resisted the urge to lie facedown on the counter until their shift ended. This was going to be _so fun._


	2. let's bean friends

Bates knew better than to expect a uni student to have a consistent schedule, but he couldn’t help but be disappointed when the next day, 10:30 came and went with no George Gleeson.

 

“You can always look him up on Facebook or something. Stop looking like you’ve lost him forever if he doesn’t come back.”

 

Easy for her to say. What if yesterday was a fluke? What if he wasn’t single? What if he’d been abducted by aliens?

 

 _Come on, man, get ahold of yourself._ But even as Bates gave himself a pep talk, that there would be another person for him, lots of fish in the sea (he met this boy YESTERDAY, for crying out loud), the bells by the front door announced a new arrival, and when Bates looked up a grin spread over his face.

 

Katie looked up, too. “Well, look who’s back,” she called in greeting, though it was mostly directed at Bates. He deserved that.

 

“Yeah, well, I only have a few hours before my next class, and I’m worried my roommate will come home at any moment, singing at the top of his voice.” He smiled at Katie, then his eyes settled on Bates. “I was worried I was going to have to make new friends today. It’s good to see you guys.”

 

Could hearts actually stop beating? Was that a thing? “You too, George.”

 

“You can call me Gleeson, if you want. That’s what my friends call me. Not that I mind George, there were just a few too many Georges growing up.” He gave a little smile. “I know how awkward it can be to call someone your own name.”

 

“Same. I just go by Bates, most of the time.”

 

“Makes things easier.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

He resettled his backpack on his shoulders and then said, with some amount of regret, “My notes aren’t going to study themselves. Could I get the same thing as yesterday?”

 

“Coming right up.” Bates didn’t think Katie would actually need a reminder, so he just wrote _Extra chocolate cos you’re so sweet_ and passed the cup to her. She read it and went “Eyy!” not quite under her breath enough for Gleeson not to hear it. He looked puzzled until he got his coffee.

 

“Oh God. I’m getting one of these every time, aren’t I?”

 

Bates just grinned wide enough to show off his missing teeth, and Gleeson went to sit down, shaking his head. But still smiling.

 

Gleeson still had his head bent over his notes when Bates plunked next to him at the end of his shift, a hot beverage in each hand. The other boy looked up, a little startled.

 

“You looked like you could use a break and a refill,” Bates said with a smile.

 

“You are correct. Thanks.” He made a move to get out his wallet, maybe, but Bates stopped him.

 

“Nah, it’s on me. It’s not every day I get to make friends on the job.” Gleeson’s smile was a little tinged with pity. “I don’t mean to sound pathetic, it’s just nice when people treat us like people. I’m glad to have met you, is all.”

 

Instead of making it awkward, Gleeson responded, “Me too.”

 

Then, before Bates could do something stupid like kiss him and _really_ make it awkward, he said, “You quoted Thor yesterday, which means I must ask you: Have you seen Age of Ultron yet?”

 

Gleeson rolled his eyes. “Duh. What kind of fanboy do you think I am?”

 

“Well, I have no idea what kind of fanboy you are. I met you yesterday. Though, you’re totally cool with labeling yourself one, so that gives me something to go on. So we’ve got MCU. Star Wars?”

 

“Yes. Star Trek?”

 

“Absolutely. Harry Potter is a given.”

 

Gleeson put his hand over his heart. “You wound me by needing to say it. House?”

 

“Ravenclaw.”

 

“Hufflepuff.”

 

“I knew you seemed way too nice.”

 

Gleeson shoved him, just a little, just enough to make Bates’s heart start pounding again. “I can definitely be mean when I want to be. The closest I’ve ever come spewing profanities is while gaming.”

 

“Mariokart?”

 

That got a laugh out of him. “Always.” Then his eyes lit up. “I actually just got the Lego Harry Potter–”

 

“Dude, what took you so long?”

 

“I honestly have no idea, but I have them now, and I was thinking about playing them in celebration of surviving this exam. That is, if I do survive. You in?”

 

“ _Yes_.” Gleeson’s hand was on the way up when Bates realized what was coming. They high fived and it was perfect, didn’t miss, not too hard. It was stupid, but Bates always took high fives as an omen. Second one. “Just so you know, I have a bit of a potty mouth.”

 

“Oh, I don’t mind it in other people. My roommate Peter drops like, seventy f-bombs a day.”

 

They traded numbers, and then Bates actually had to go or he’d be late to his acting class. Once outside of the shop, he allowed himself to jump around and smile as much as he wanted. They had a _date_. Okay, not actually a date, but hanging out with him seemed almost as good as dating him. Plus, he could test the waters a little bit. Make sure that he actually likes boys for one. And the best part? _It had been Gleeson’s idea_.


	3. Brew-TP

“You made it!”

 

“You’re alive!”

 

“Well, obviously,” said Gleeson with an eye roll. “I don’t think ghosts can text.”

 

“Ah, but they could ask their roommates to text for them.”

 

“Why would I invite you over to a games night if I can’t use the controller?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know, to take over my body so you can live again?”

 

Gleeson just shook his head. “All righty roo. Come on in.”

 

_Just when I think he can’t get any cuter, he goes and says something like that._

Gleeson stepped aside and Bates saw a pretty standard student flat, if a bit cleaner than most. The door opened onto a common area, complete with table, chairs, couch, and TV. A doorway straight ahead led to a small kitchen, and the two closed doors must have been Gleeson and his roommate’s rooms. There was pizza on the table and Lego Harry Potter up on the screen; Bates couldn’t imagine a more perfect sight after a day of (mostly boring) productivity.

 

“I was feeling hungry and lazy, so I ordered a pizza. There’s other food around if you want–”

 

Bates cut him off with a grin. “Pizza is literally perfect.” He plopped down on the couch and grabbed a slice, and Gleeson followed suit. Bates noticed that either the couch wasn’t as big as it looked, or Gleeson was sitting closer than was strictly necessary. Not that he was complaining.

 

“Just so you know,” Gleeson said conversationally, “I’m gay and a double leg amputee. I like to get it out in the open so that it doesn’t shock people or whatever if it comes up later.”

 

Bates snorted involuntarily, and Gleeson gave him a weird look. “Get it out,” he said, like that explained everything.

 

Gleeson rolled his eyes and groaned. “Stooooop.”

 

“Never.” A little voice in Bates’s head was dancing around and singing _HE LIKES BOYS_. He didn’t even spare a second thought on the amputee thing–though it did explain the slightly weird way he walked–because _HE LIKED BOYS_.

 

“I don’t do it to make it weird or whatever, I just get really sick of people telling me at performances that girls _love_ musicians.”

 

“Stupid heteronormativity.”

 

“I know, right?”

 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me being weirded out or anything. I’m pan and I don’t have teeth, so I get where you’re coming from with the whole up front thing.”

 

“No teeth?” Bates showed him. “Interesting.”

 

“Yeah, they just never showed up after my baby teeth fell out. Not as big of a deal as losing limbs, obviously, but people sometimes react really strangely. Like, it can turn into this whole big thing, even though I don’t see it as a big deal. Well, the tooth thing, anyway.”

 

“Yeah. I’ve been out since freshman year of high school–”

 

“ _Wow._ I’m kind of jealous.”

 

“Yeah, well my parents were super laid back, and didn’t raise me to think that I had to be straight. I didn’t even have to come out to them, _they_ asked _me._ ”

 

Bates sighed. “My parents say they’re fine with it, but I can tell they hope the ‘straight part’”–he made big, exaggerated air quotes–“of me wins. It kind of makes me want to marry anyone _except_ a cis girl, just to spite them, but that’s not incredibly mature of me.”

 

“Nah, I understand. I’ve been out for five years, and I still have to deal with this stuff all the time. I know we just met this week, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you already have my number.” The smile had dropped a bit from Gleeson’s face, but his eyes were so kind. Bates could feel himself melting.

 

“I might take you up on that.” Never mind that he talked this over with Ellen, and the other queer folk he met at school and at meetings. He was smart enough to know that an open invitation to call Gleeson was a wonderful thing to have. He gestured at the screen. “Shall we?”

 

“Yes we shall.”

 

Their games night went really well (they had a lot of fun breaking everything they could find to collect studs and occasionally following the actual rules of gameplay) and before the night was over, they decided they must do it again.

 

After that, Bates’s world contorted a bit to fit around George Gleeson, who suddenly filled in all these places Bates didn’t know were empty. Gleeson no longer had excuses for coming to hang out at the coffee shop, he just showed up in his spare time on the days Bates and Katie worked. Most of those days, Bates would take his fifteen at Gleeson’s table, talking about everything under the sun. They were both super into films and TV, and could talk theories and analysis for hours. They traded URLs within seconds of realizing they were both on Tumblr. Gleeson shared his music with Bates; Bates declared it epic and it replaced the Avengers soundtracks during his morning routine. Bates shared the YouTube account that he started in year 11 and promptly abandoned a few months later; Gleeson insisted his videos were actually good and that he should take it up again.

 

They hung out outside The Busy Bean, because Bates didn’t work enough hours for adequate friendshipping. But Bates preferred the shop, where he could ignore everything but the customers and the coffee and Katie, and of course, Gleeson.

 

He worried a little about Katie, but when he brought it up one morning she silenced him. “You do realize I like having him around too, right?”

 

“Well yeah, but–”

 

“No, buts. He’s great to talk to, and he’s really good at distracting you when you’re in too good of a mood for me to handle.” The disbelief clearly showed in his face when she continued, “Seriously, I’m not jealous. You’re allowed to have more than one friend, you know. And it’s not like you guys leave me out.”

 

Bates grinned, gave her a one-armed hug around her shoulders, and kissed the side of her head, prompting Katie to push him away with a look of disgust.

 

“You’re still my best girl, Minola.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.” But she couldn’t hide a smile.

 

Bates found it hard not to tell everyone in his life about his new best friend. He toned it down for his parents, so they wouldn’t notice his crush (which he was still trying to figure out for himself, and he didn’t need them butting in). Since coming out to them, whenever he mentioned a boy too much they would get these _looks_ on their faces, especially his dad, and Bates didn’t want anything tarnishing his new friendship.

 

On the other hand, he positively gushed to Ellen, because she always got to the shop well before any other customers, and he could never talk to Katie at that hour. Ellen always listened with a knowing look on her face while he babbled and wiped tables.

 

“I hope I get to meet this elusive George Gleeson,” she told him one morning, after he wound down about their Saturday night checking all the campus buildings, trying to climb onto the roofs of as many as they could. (They made it to the top of exactly one building, then proceeded to sit there talking and drinking/grimacing their way through a six pack until the rising sun told them it was time to go to sleep. Bates always loved mornings, but that was a particularly good one.)

 

Bates grinned, because there was nothing he wanted more. “Yeah, I hope so too. I think you’ll really like him.”

 

She surveyed him over her reading glasses. “I should imagine so. Anyone who makes you smile like that gets an entire page in my good book.” She huffed like a fussy British lady and turned a page of the paper. (For the first few weeks that they talked, Bates couldn’t believe she could read and listen at the same time. But she never failed to be able to repeat every detail of the conversation, so he figured she must be better at multitasking than him.) “Which is why your parents so rarely make an appearance in it.”

 

He knew he was blushing, and he also knew that Ellen knew him well enough that she could tell, dark cheeks notwithstanding.

 

“I’m sorry. It’s not really my business. A person is allowed to complain of their parents, but once someone else agrees with them, things become uncomfortable.”

 

“It’s not–” Bates rubbed the back of his head. “You’re not wrong. I just wish you were.”

 

“I know, darling.” She stood, put her mug and her plate on the counter, then began to walk to the door. Pausing, she turned back and gripped his shoulder with fingers of steel, but it was comforting all the same. Gleeson came in as she was leaving, and Bates knew Ellen knew exactly who it was based on the look on Bates’s face alone.

 

“Hey Katie!” Gleeson called, but he knew enough about her to save the real conversation for Bates at this hour. “Bates, there was a woman at my table.”

 

“Actually,” Bates corrected as he went behind the counter, “it was her table first.”

 

“Call me intrigued.”

 

“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you later, the morning rush should start any minute.” He glanced at his watch. 7:36, normal Ellen departure, abnormal Gleeson arrival. “You’re here early.”

 

“Yeah, the landlord finally sent someone over to fix the sink, but he came obscenely early and there was a lot of banging involved. Goodbye, sleep.” Gleeson shrugged good-naturedly. “I have an early class today anyway.”

 

That was Gleeson, always making the best out of everything. He was in the ‘grin and bear it’ camp of early mornings, but Bates was convinced that with time, he could induct Gleeson into the ‘everything is sunrise and rainbows’ society.

 

“I have two questions for you: can I get you anything, and will you be back later?”

 

“Yes and hopefully yes.” Bates grabbed a cup, scribbled his customary pun, and passed it to Katie, who glowered at him for having too many friends before a reasonable time of day. “I have developed an unfortunate dependence on mocha lattes thanks to you, and I have a break between classes today and nothing better to do.”

 

“Hey!”

 

Gleeson shrugged. “Well, you asked.”

 

“What time is your class?”

 

“Nine.”

 

“That is far away.”

 

“Yeah, well, I was hoping to either distract you or waste the entire time on Tumblr.”

 

“Worthy goals.”

 

“I thought so. I’m a little bit sick of how productive I’ve been.” He leaned in, resting his hands on the counter. “Peter’s been pretty stressed lately and the flat has been scary quiet. No singing at all.”

 

That got Katie’s attention. “Your roommate is _Peter Glover_?”

 

Gleeson nodded, bemused at the hostile look on her face. “Yeah, how did you know?”

 

“Our school is too small for two obnoxiously loud singing misogynists named Peter. Ew, no wonder you’re always here.” 

 

Bates had to resist a smile at that familiar tone. “I’m pretty sure she asks anyone who ever mentions a guy named Peter if they’re talking about Peter Glover, just so she can rant about him some more.”

 

With a disgruntled huff, she shoved Gleeson’s cup at him and stalked away.

 

Bates met Gleeson’s eyes and gave a miniscule sigh. “He’s all she talks about,” he whispered once Katie was out of earshot.

 

Gleeson chuckled. “Peter too, though I can’t believe I never put two and two together. How many midget dragons are there named Katie?” Bates raised his eyebrows. “His words, not mine.”

 

“They’re so in love.”

 

“I’ll see if I can drag him here sometime.”

 

With a sidelong glance at Katie, Bates asked, “How long do you give them?”

 

“Two months.”

 

“I say four. Katie’s really stubborn.”

 

“Five dollars and you’re on.”

 

“Done.” They high fived before either one of them remembered that normal people shook hands on that sort of thing. That just had them grinning at one another.

 

“Okay, you have your caffeine, now get away. The paying customers will be here soon.”

 

Gleeson threw the hand that wasn’t holding a hot beverage in the air in frustration. “You won’t let me be a paying customer!”

 

“Shush.”

 

They’d had this argument at least three times before they settled on a 50/50 compromise. Bates felt weird about making his friend pay for coffee, but Gleeson insisted he wasn’t anywhere near broke (his parents still felt guilty about their divorce and overcompensated in excessive rent/spending money). But Bates’s boss didn’t mind if they took some of the goods for themselves, as long as an obscene amount wasn’t missing from the weekly inventory. Bates only took the occasional tea bag or pastry, so giving coffee to one person a few times a week wasn’t a big deal. Gleeson paid half the time, which made neither of them happy, as most compromises tend to work.

 

People came in a steady stream once Gleeson sat down, and sometime in the rush he waved and headed out the door for class.

 

Once they had a minute to breathe around 9:30, Katie pounced. “Why haven’t you asked him out yet? You’ve known him for like, a whole month now. And if you say you don’t want to ruin your friendship, I might punch you in the face.”

 

Bates was a little taken aback, at both the question and the fact that Katie was awake enough to ask it. He’d been sort of thinking about it, but not directly enough to have an answer. “I guess I just need to figure out my head a little. You know how I am.”

 

“You’re so boring.”

 

He decided not to respond, because it would only escalate. Katie wasn’t always so good at the sensitivity.

 

Since learning about the difference between romantic and sexual orientation (thanks to Ellen, of course), a whole lot of things about himself had begun to make sense. It made sense that he would see people he was attracted to but had no desire to date. It made sense that he only ever seemed to fall for his friends. While he’d struggled with labeling himself pansexual (and to be honest, he still wasn’t entirely happy with it, though it was the least restrictive word he could find), he’d jumped on the word demiromantic because it so easily described what he’d always felt but didn’t have a word for. Once he’d figured that out, though, he also realized that romantic and sexual attraction weren’t always easy to tell apart. It made him a little (okay, a lot) less sure about going out with people, because what if he didn’t like them both ways? Hence the reason he’d never been in a real relationship.

 

And Gleeson was a different story altogether. Gleeson was as close as he’d ever come to feeling both types of attraction at once. Or maybe not. Before Gleeson, Bates had never seriously considered asking a total stranger on a date, but it was like his brain knew they could be the best of friends and decided to prematurely like him, like him.

 

Unless it was all sexual, which was definitely possible because oh God he could not stop thinking about him. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing.

 

So… yeah. Figuring out how exactly he felt about George Gleeson was turning out to be a task larger than Steve Rogers’s bench press score.

 

And he was worried about ruining things. Not in the cliché sense. Because he could probably get over George Gleeson rejecting him because he didn’t feel the same way. What he couldn’t deal with was George Gleeson saying yes and George Bates–having misjudged his own feelings–fucking it all up.

 


	4. I like you a latte

Bates didn’t end up hearing from Gleeson until after he got home after his shift ended. At first he freaked out, because his phone buzzed incessantly before he was able to grab it out of his pocket.

 

_G: Bates, I’m sorry_

_I got caught up talking to my professor about a paper and then I went to the library to get started on it. I lost track of time_

_I did mean to come back_

Bates bit back a laugh. It was kind of adorable.

_B: g, don’t worry about it, no big deal_

_i don’t need to keep tabs on you 24/7_

It touched him that Gleeson cared about him enough to make sure Bates knew where he was, though. His phone buzzed again.

 

_G: Yeah, I know. I just don’t want you to think I’m flaky, or anything._

Bates snorted as he typed.

 

_B: this coming from the guy who shows up so early to hang out that he has to wait for me to get home from class_

_G: Oh my God, that was one time!_

He grinned.

 

_G: I’m sorry, it’s just stuff like this that drove my parents apart. I don’t want that to happen to us_

The grin slid off his face.

 

_G: Sorry, B. Was that too much? I’m getting better about opening up about things like this, but there’s a time and place for it_

_I want you to know but I also don’t want to weird you out_

 

_B: no, g, i want you to tell me that stuff_

_i just feel like a dick for teasing you about it_

_G: No worries, man, it helps to have someone tell me when I’m being ridiculous_

_B: just let me know if anything i say bugs you, okay? communication is key_

_G: Will do._

_B: great_ _:)_

_you going to will and annie’s tonight?_

_G: I was thinking about it. I do have this paper to write._

_B: that’s what sundays are for_

_come on g_

_you know you wanna_

_answer me_

_drink with me_

_to days_

_gone by_

_G: OH MY GOD OKAY but until then I should probably try and get some work done._

_B: you’re so boring_

_G: :-P_

_B: FINE i’ll see you then_

 

The hours until he could reasonably go over to Annie’s apartment dragged by. Sure, he theoretically had work to do, but Fridays were sacred. Fridays were work in the morning and absolutely no classes. He usually distracted himself with Netflix or something along those lines (he was slowly but surely making his way through five different shows, _only_ two of them repeats, thank you very much). But he couldn’t seem to focus, not on Ross/Rachel drama, not on the adventures of Agent Peggy Carter, not on the escapades of the crew of Serenity, nothing. In a fit of desperation, he called Katie.

 

“This had better be good, I was just about to go take a nap.”

 

“Ugh, fine, don’t hang out with me.”

 

“Good, I’m about to fall flat on my face. What’s wrong?”

 

Bates flopped down on his bed. “I’m bored. Are you coming tonight?”

 

Katie sighed. “Bink is practically forcing me.” Bates grinned; only Bink could force Katie to do anything. That’s little sisters, not that Bates could really understand. “She still hasn’t gotten it in her head that if she goes to parties alone mum won’t ground her for it.”

 

“She’s a first year, she’ll learn.”

 

“I hope so. I’m two episodes away from the season finale of _Scandal_.”

 

“Friday night home alone with your computer?”

 

Bates could practically _hear_ her making a face. “Don’t tell me you never do that instead of going out. I have known you _far_ too long.”

 

“Go to bed, Katie.”

 

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Then she hung up.

 

Shaking his head, Bates tossed his phone aside. With no Katie and no Gleeson, this afternoon would be no fun at all.

 

The time eventually passed, but it meant Bates was only the second person there. It was fine, he grabbed a drink and caught up with Will a bit. A few more people had arrived when Annie settled herself next to Will and grinned at Bates.

 

“So,” she began after taking a sip of her drink, “Gleeson has been talking a lot about you lately.”

 

“Has he now.” Bates couldn’t keep himself from grinning, though he was convinced they’d be able to hear how fast his heart was beating.

 

“Yeah, he says you guys have been hanging out a lot.”

 

“He came to the coffee shop where I work to escape Peter’s songwriting. The rest is history.”

 

“Uh-huh.” Annie surveyed him with a knowing look and leaned forward. How could someone so cute look so menacing? Will was doing nothing to stop her, just watching with an amused look in their eye. “Well, as one of Gleeson’s closest friends, I require a formal declaration of your intentions.”

 

Will burst out laughing, and Bates took that opportunity to down the rest of his drink. “Would you look at that,” he said with false surprise. “I need a refill.”

 

Will’s laughter intensified and Annie cried, “You won’t get away that easy, George Bates!” at his retreating back.

 

He did like Annie, and she and Will were scary perfect for one another, but he definitely needed more alcohol tonight if he was going to get teased about Gleeson.

 

More alcohol he did find, and by the time Gleeson showed up with Peter and this guy Luke who Bates had only met once, Bates was a little tipsy. Tipsy enough to throw his arms around Gleeson and shout, “Eyyy, G, you’re here!”

 

“Yeah!” At least he returned the hug enthusiastically, so Bates didn’t feel stupid just yet.

 

Then Katie walked in, his eyes darted to Peter, and he decided to distract her for as long as possible. “Hey girl hey!” he shouted, half tackling her.

 

“Oh my God, what is your problem? Are you wasted already?”

 

“No! Can’t I just be really excited to see you?”

 

“I guess.” She pouted. “But ‘hey girl hey’ is _my_ line.”

 

“Um, excuse me, it is _both_ of our lines.”

 

“Okay, keep telling yourself that.” She patted his cheek condescendingly. “Who needs a gay best friend when I have you?”

 

Planting his hands on his hips, Bates accused, “What, I’m not gay enough for you?”

 

Katie burst out laughing. Okay, so maybe ‘tipsy’ was pushing it. Normally he wouldn’t say things like that, mostly because if someone said it to _him_ , he would be royally ticked off.

 

“Weren’t you the one who painstakingly explained to me that being gay and being pan were two completely different things?”

 

Bates threw his hands in the air. “I give up. You are not happy to see me.”

 

“What? No, of course I’m happy to see you.” Her eyes left him and started to wander around the room. Somehow (either because she has a finely tuned radar for him or because he is the tallest person in the room) she spotted Peter. “I take that back! How could you not tell me the douchebag was here!”

 

“He just got here! How is this my fault?”

 

She narrowed her eyes. “You knew he would be coming.” His face must have looked guilty because she continued, “You _knew!_ I will–”

 

“Gleeson!” Bates cut her off and literally ran away, grabbing Gleeson’s arm and pulling him into the next room. Hopefully Katie would get distracted by talking to someone else or arguing with Peter and forget to eviscerate him.

 

“Hey, what’s up?”

 

“Katie found Peter and might be after my blood. Hide with me.”

 

Chuckling, Gleeson responded, “Okay. Where?”

 

He plopped down on an empty couch sort of in the corner. The lights were off anyway, the room dimly lit by a shitload of candles on the coffee table. “This’ll do for now.” Never mind that it was really romantic. There were other people in there talking, so no big deal.

 

Gleeson didn’t protest, just plopped down next to him, taking care not to spill his drink. He draped his free arm over the back of the couch, and Bates had to resist the urge to tuck himself under it and snuggle into Gleeson’s chest. He wasn’t _that_ drunk.

 

“So, how’s your paper going?”

 

“Really? We’re at a party, and you want to talk about homework?”

 

“Well, you’re the one who wants to give me a blow-by-blow recap of your entire life!” Gleeson very maturely stuck out his tongue. “ _You_ pick a topic of conversation, if mine are so unsatisfactory.”

 

“Fine. Are you slightly worried about the number of candles on that wooden table, or is that just me?”

 

“Nope, that’s just you. Candles are always 100% amazing.”

 

“Until the Fire Nation attacks and burns your house down.”

 

“Hey, cool it with the Avatar references, you haven’t even seen it.”

 

“Ah, but I have been on Tumblr long enough to reference it, I think. Following you has educated me on the overarching plots of both Avatar and Korra.”

 

“Doesn’t count.”

 

“You make Supernatural jokes _all the time._ ”  


“Yeah, but _you_ haven’t seen it, so you can’t be personally offended at how wrong I am.”

 

“Am I wrong about the Fire Nation though?”

 

Bates just rolls his eyes. “Don’t joke about the things I hold most dear in this world, Gleeson. You wound me.”

 

“You’ll survive.”

 

“Ouch.”

 

There they sat and joked and laughed for hours, only getting up for refills. Like all of their hangouts, minus gaming and plus alcohol. They hardly spoke to anyone else; either everyone forgot about them, or no one wanted to interrupt them. Bates wanted it to go on forever, and it seemed like it would. Until Peter.

 

They were having a very passionate discussion about which (fictional) people would be worthy of Thor’s hammer. They started with the MCU, had traveled from there into other comic books, took a long detour at Superman (Bates for, Gleeson against), which took them into the characters from Strong Female Protagonist (they were both firmly in favor of Alison, against Patrick), and had finally arrived at any character that popped into their heads.

 

“Luna Lovegood,” offered Gleeson.

 

“Oh, obviously. Snape?”

 

“Ew, definitely not, how can you even say that?”

 

Bates grinned. “That was a test, you passed. We can still be friends. I’m gonna say Korra, because you can’t disagree.”

 

“Fine by me. Then I’m gonna say Pikachu.”

 

“Ha ha, very funny. Pokemon with lightning powers wielding the God of Thunder’s hammer. Obi Wan.”

 

“What? No. He lied to Luke about his father. Luke Skywalker.”

 

“If you’re gonna talk about problematic, can we talk about how pigheaded Luke is for like, the entire second movie?”

 

“Fair point.”

 

They both paused, like they knew they had the same idea at the same time. So they both shouted, “LEA!” and high fived.

 

At which point, they realized they had an audience.

 

“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Peter asked incredulously.

 

Gleeson looked Peter up and down and said immediately, “Definitely not worthy,” which had Bates laughing his ass off and Peter beginning to look more than a little pissed.

 

“Worthy of what?”

 

“Of lifting Mjölnir, hammer of Thor son of Odin, God of Thunder,” Gleeson proclaimed grandly. Now instead of confused, Peter looked weirded out.

 

“Okay, I’m going to find Harry, you guys are being incredibly strange.”

 

Bates was still helplessly giggling and maybe it was that combined with the fact that he was a little tipsy that made him say, “You are _definitely_ worthy.”

 

The second it was out of his mouth he regretted it. Was it too flirty? Would Gleeson notice Bates was sort of coming on to him? Did Bates care?

 

Gleeson was blushing as he responded, “Well if I am, then you are too.”

 

This was different. They had definitely strayed into flirting territory. While Bates was drunk enough to start it, he wasn’t nearly drunk enough to continue down that path.

 

“Fine, but what about Annie?”

 

Gleeson had to think about it for a second. “Eh, a little too cunning. A little too Slytherin, if you know what I mean.” Bates nodded. “Will?”

 

“I’m gonna say no, but I don’t really know why?”

 

“I’m with you on that.”

 

“For the sake of our lives and friendships, we should never speak of this conversation to anyone else.”

 

“Deal.” A high five sealed it.

 

“Katie,” they said at the same time, both shaking their heads. That got them to burst out laughing again.

 

“Seriously,” said Gleeson, “get out of my head!”

 

“ _And fall into my arms instead!_ ” Bates sang into his beer bottle. Whoops, he only meant to think that part. So maybe he was a little more than tipsy. It was hard to tell while sitting down.

 

An odd look passed over Gleeson’s face, but it was gone before Bates’s brain could interpret it.

 

“I never pegged you for a One Direction fan.”

 

“Really? I’m not the one with sophisticated music taste, that’s you.” He booped Gleeson on the nose. All right, a lot more than tipsy. “I, on the other hand, am pop music trash.”

 

“Good to know. But you do like _some_ good music.”

 

“Plenty, but my guilty pleasures are all the crap they play too much on the radio. 1D, Katy Perry, Rhianna, you name it, it is in my iTunes.”

 

“It means a lot that you’d share your deepest darkest secrets with me.”

 

“It means a lot that you’ll still be my friend, even after learning them.”

 

Bates knew they were joking, but there was something intense in the way Gleeson was staring at him. As it happened so often with Gleeson, Bates couldn’t look away, so it was Gleeson who faltered and broke their eye contact.

 

“Speaking of secrets, you were going to tell me about a certain woman whose table I’ve been sitting at for a month.”

 

“Who, Ellen?” He grinned impishly. Bates’d mentioned her before, she was too important not to bring up sometimes. He had just avoided the most painful stuff, as he’d figured one should with a person they’d just met. No new friend, not even a new best friend, needs that kind of brand new burden.

 

“ _That’s_ Ellen? Why didn’t you tell me that before?” Gleeson whacked his shoulder with the hand that was draped behind Bates, that had maybe been dropping closer to him as the night wore on. Bates tried very hard not to notice. “She looked so… proper. I expected her to be wearing low rise jeans with beads in her long, flowing hair.”

 

“ _Please._ She stopped wearing that stuff years ago.”

 

Gleeson chuckled. “She sounds awesome.”

 

“She is. Show up at the Bean at six a.m. and you can meet her.”

 

Repressing a shudder, Gleeson asked, “Why were you so mysterious this morning?”

 

“Because it’s fun screwing with you,” Bates grinned, earning himself another whack on the arm. The smile dropped from his face as he continued. “I didn’t want to tell you there because I wanted to tell you properly. I can’t tell you about Ellen without _telling you_ about Ellen.”

 

Gleeson shifted so he could get a better look at Bates and smiled gently, urging him on. Bates took a sip of his beer, buying time and courage.

 

“I’ve told you about my parents, a little. They’ve always quietly disapproved of anyone remotely queer, not explicitly, but enough so that when I was thirteen and started liking girls _and_ boys, I thought something was wrong with me, so I did my best to ignore it.”

 

Gleeson’s arm dropped from the couch to Bates’s shoulders, comforting and weirdly both romantic and not at the same time.

 

“Will was one of my first crushes actually, right after they came out. I told myself that it was me being unaccepting, and still seeing them as just a girl. And that’s the thing, I was always worried about discriminating, because I knew my parents did even though they didn’t talk about it, and I didn’t want to be like that. So I never had a problem with people who came out as whatever, but I couldn’t admit to myself that I was anything but straight because I was terrified.

 

“As you can imagine, I was pretty unhappy where dating was concerned. I generally spent a lot of time and energy thinking about the _girls_ I had crushes on, in order to ignore everyone else. And I definitely got romantic and platonic feelings confused, mostly because I convinced myself the romantic feelings I felt for boys were normal friendship feelings.

 

“Basically, I was a mess.

 

“The worst was with Bink, Katie’s little sister. She’s great, she’s cute, and she was in my English class in year 12. Their mum had these weird rules for them that they couldn’t date at all. I obsessed over her like nobody’s business, but it didn’t matter because she was unobtainable, so I fixated on her instead of the real problem.”

 

Bates could feel the pressure around his shoulders as Gleeson silently supported him, but he was glad Gleeson didn’t say anything. He kept staring at his hands, because any interruption–including seeing what was no doubt the growing pity in Gleeson’s eyes–would make him lose his nerve.

 

“I started at the Bean to get out of the house and help my parents pay for uni. About halfway through year 12, I knew there was something I couldn’t stand about my parents, but it took months for me to admit to myself what that was. Ellen and I bonded in the first week, since we were both morning people and the other guy on my shift never really talked to me. It didn’t stop me from having a massive crush on him anyway. Ellen knew right away about me, whether it was because she saw how I acted around Adam or my incessant babbling about Bianca or if she’d helped enough people to recognize a young guy in distress about their sexual orientation.

 

“Either way, she talked a lot about her life, which made me feel comfortable around her. Coming out, her crazy activist days, living as a queer women. She was very open and accepting in the way that I wanted to be of everyone, including myself, though my parents had been subliminally telling me otherwise for my whole life.

 

“Anyway, high school ends and uni starts, and Bink is allowed to date whoever she wants, and I realize I have no interest in dating her. That’s when the angst starts, because now I have nothing to stop myself from realizing how attractive boys can be.”

 

“Damn straight.”

 

Bates chuckled and finally looked up at Gleeson. He was smiling encouragingly, and Bates realized the worst part of the story was over.

 

“Yeah, I think my brain decided it wasn’t going to obsess over anyone else until I had sorted my shit out. Even Ellen’s acceptance couldn’t rewrite all the damage, so my response was to just close off and listen to really angsty music for about a week.”

 

“Fall Out Boy?”

 

“You know it. Anyway, eventually Ellen had enough. She showed up after my shift one day and announced she was taking me to lunch. We talked a _lot,_ and she prodded me into admitting my feelings. Wouldn’t let up until I did. She knew me accepting myself would start the healing process, and it did. She’d given me her number ages ago, but that’s when I started legitimately calling her with my questions and problems. She took me to her meetings. I started feeling better about everything, labels and all.

 

“She helped me take the baby steps. She even asked if I wanted her there when I came out to my parents, but I wanted to prove to myself that I was strong enough to stand up to them if I needed to. That I was secure enough in who I was not to deny it anymore, even if they wanted me to.

 

“They were mostly upset that I hadn’t felt that I could tell them. The thing is, I don’t know if they know how prejudiced they are. They said they’d love me no matter what, and that was that.”

 

Gleeson let out a long breath, still not taking his arm from around Bates’s shoulders. “Holy crap.”

 

“Yeah.” Bates barely even registered that Gleeson swore. It seemed like the most appropriate response.

 

There was a not-quite-awkward silence for a few moments, which Gleeson broke with a lighthearted tone. “So, did anything ever happen with your fellow barista?”

 

Bates chuckled. “Yeah, actually, which leads me to the tail end of my insane coming out story, after which I will shut up.”

 

The arm around his shoulder squeezed a little tighter. “Hey, you know it’s totally okay, right?”

 

Did he have to do that? Did he have to be so nice and respectful and understanding all the damn time? “Yeah, yeah. But I’m sure you have things to say, too.”

 

“Not until I hear about Adam the dreamboat.”

 

Bates rolled his eyes and went on. “After he quit and Katie took his place, we actually ran into one another at a party where he promptly pulled me into a corner and told me he was super into me, and that’s why he’d always been so distant.”

 

“Seems counterintuitive.”

 

“I know, right? Well anyway, we made out for a significant chunk of that party, and he asked me out the next day.”

 

“What did you say?” Bates resisted the urge to point out that they were like two fourteen year old girls. Whatever, boys can talk about crushes too.

 

“That’s the problem, I realized that I’d really liked kissing him and stuff, but I had no desire whatsoever to date him. Thank goodness I had the moral fortitude to turn him down. That would have ended badly otherwise. I told Ellen about it, and that’s when she told me about the aromantic and asexual spectrum, which cleared up a lot of things.”

 

“You’re aromantic?” Was it his imagination, or did Gleeson sound a little disappointed?

 

“Nope, I identify as demiromantic pansexual, which is quite a mouthful if you lead with that every time you meet someone. Plus, it’s two words that most people have no clue about.”

 

“Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem.”

 

“But you, sir, do not seem to need any definitions whatsoever.” Bates resisted the urge to boop him on the nose again. There was a time and place, and that was not it.

 

“I’ve done a lot of research, plus Tumblr can be a really great resource when it wants to be.”  


“That it can.”

 

They were both silent for several long moments. Bates knew it was a lot to take in; he’d never told the whole story to someone who wasn’t familiar with at least part of it. (The only people who knew the whole explanation were Ellen and Katie.) So he waited for Gleeson to break the silence.

 

“Thank you for telling me. I know how scary it can be.”

 

“I should be thanking you. The thing is, I’m never afraid to tell you anything. I told you about being pan without hesitating _two days_ after meeting you, and you just accepted it, didn’t make a big deal or tell me it’s just a phase or that I have to make up my mind.”

 

“Do you get that a lot?” His voice was filled with concern and annoyance.

 

“Yeah, and it’s sometimes worse with people who are gay.”

 

“People can be the worst sometimes.”

 

“Yeah.” Without fully realizing it, Bates settled himself more comfortably under Gleeson’s arm, and maybe almost rested his head on Gleeson’s shoulder. “Not you, though. You’re the best.”

 

“Oh yeah? Best what?”

 

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes that he _had_ to have been doing on purpose, and Bates felt his heart and stomach twist simultaneously.

 

 _I’m in love with George Gleeson_.

 

The realization hit him like a wave, and it gently carried him forward to press their lips together.

 

The kiss was as perfect as their first meeting and their first high five. It was as perfect as every moment they’d spent growing together. In the spare bit of his brain that wasn’t filled with Gleeson’s mouth and tongue and the feeling of his arms tightening around him, Bates knew he wouldn’t have gone about it any other way.

 

And well, maybe kissing was a bit of an understatement, but Bates didn’t really care for labels.

 

And maybe it was good that they heard shouting and broke apart, because any longer and Bates might have ended up in Gleeson’s lap or yanking out all his hair from the way his fingers were running through it.

 

And one of them was maybe about to say something when Bates heard his name and sprang up, several things making their way into his kiss-clouded brain at once.

 

Bink was calling him.

 

The raised voices were definitely Katie and Peter.

 

They sounded a) drunk and b) WAY more pissed off than usual.

 

Bink came rushing in. “Bates, is that you?”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Katie is wasted and is getting scary aggressive, I’m kind of worried, can you help me get her home?”

 

Bink being kind of worried was cause for alarm, and Katie’s voice was only getting louder.

 

“–which makes you a misogynistic prejudiced asshole!”

 

“Just because my opinions are different from yours doesn’t make me prejudiced or an asshole!”

 

“Peter.” Bates didn’t even know Gleeson had followed them, but Gleeson’s quiet voice got Peter’s attention (how in the world he managed that, Bates couldn’t really understand, but he had to admit the authority in Gleeson’s voice kind of turned him on, at which he could only think _not now_ ), which was enough for Bink and Bates to literally drag Katie out the door, still shouting slightly slurred profanities.

 

“Come on, Kate.” He knew it would derail her from her tirade at Peter and make her slightly easier to deal with.

 

“ _Don’t call me Kate!_ ” Worked like a charm. She threw him off, but let Bink keep supporting her. Probably because if she let go, she would faceplant or swerve into traffic. Not that there was much of that on the quiet residential street in the middle of the night, but you could never be too careful.

 

“Katie, I love you and care about you too much to let you die of alcohol poisoning, but I swear to God if this little stunt ruins things with Luke, I will shave your eyebrows off.” If Bates didn’t feel much the same way (and still dazed from kissing Gleeson and the sudden change of events) he would have laughed.

 

“I don’t have alcohol poisoning.”

 

“If you kept at the rate you were going, you could have. You will most definitely have the mother of all headaches tomorrow. Bates, you okay?”

 

“Yeah,” he responded carefully, but he realized things were spinning a little. “I’m just more drunk than I thought I was.” _Drunk or in looooove?_ snarked a little voice in his brain. _Whatever._ Either way, he wasn’t operating at full capacity.

 

“Then go home, we’ll be fine.”

 

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you two ladies walk home alone at two in the morning?” _Shit_. It was two in the morning. Exhaustion hit him all at once when he realized he’d been up for almost twenty two hours.

 

“The kind of gentleman who has work tomorrow, and will probably have to work without a partner.” Bink glanced down at her armful of sister. “I don’t think she’ll be in any shape to wake up in three hours.”

 

“You know,” Katie began, “chivalry is sexist.”

 

They ignored her.

 

“You’re right. I’ll call in sick for her, but I want to make sure you guys get home. If it were just you, I wouldn’t worry as much, but this one might give you some trouble.”

 

“Quit talking about me like I’m not here!”

 

“It’s okay.” Bates kissed the top of her head. “You won’t remember this in the morning.”

 

“Will too. I remember you called me Kate five minutes ago.”

 

“It was for your own good.” Bates clicked his cell phone on, dialed their boss’s number, and patiently waited for his voicemail to pick up. “Hi Sean, this is George Bates. Katie won’t listen to me because she’s stubborn, but she’s really sick and won’t be able to make it in to work tomorrow. I can open by myself, but if you could give me a hand when you wake up, that would be great. Thanks.”

 

“Slick,” said Bianca after he hung up. “Making Katie sound like she was resisting is a nice touch.”

 

“I thought so.”

 

They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Bink asked, “So were you in there the entire time?” Bates looked at her quizzically. “The room with all the candles. I hardly saw you at all tonight.”

 

“Yeah, basically. I went to hang out with Gleeson to escape this one–” he good naturedly poked Katie, who seemed to have progressed to the sleepwalking stage and didn’t retaliate–“and kind of lost track of time.”

 

Bink raised her eyebrows. “Did you now.” For the second time that night Bates found himself slightly afraid of an adorable curly haired girl.

 

Bates could feel his cheeks heating up, but it was too dark for Bink to notice unless–nope, his damned hand was rubbing the back of his head, and she knew him well enough to make her grin wider.

 

“So it looks like I wasn’t the only one who was interrupted, huh?”

 

Bates just held open the front door of their building with a sheepish grin.

 

“We, sir, are going to talk about this some other time. Thank you thank you, text me when you get home.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Bates saluted and continued on his way.

 

His feet were on autopilot, carrying him home while his head hung out with the stars that were visible in the cloudless sky. He just had one of the best nights of his life, and even the headache he was going to have tomorrow would be worth it.


	5. Words cannot espresso

The morning after Bates kissed George Gleeson was one of the worst he can remember. He’d gotten to bed at around 2:30 the night before, not that he slept the whole time because _he kissed George Gleeson_ which led to an incredibly bleary eyed Bates hitting the snooze button for the first time in his life, _twice_. Even Gleeson’s epic scores didn’t do much to help the pounding in his head, as he was somewhere between still drunk and incredibly hungover. He went through the motions of his morning routine with limbs of lead, skipping breakfast and thinking longingly of 2 p.m. when he could go home and sleep properly. And figure out whether the night before had been a dream. It was just perfect enough and hazy enough to have been all alcohol and hormones. He desperately hoped that wasn’t the case. But that would also have to wait until later.

 

Bates was running a little late, but it didn’t matter. The only person who ever showed up between 6 and 7 was Ellen, and she would understand if he was running behind. Especially after he told her the story.

 

The fresh air on the walk to the shop helped him feel more like a human, and even with a massive headache he could still appreciate the soft light through the branches of the trees.

 

But all the breath rushed out of his lungs when he rounded the corner and saw Gleeson leaning against the shop window, hands shoved in the pockets of last night’s jeans. He simultaneously managed to look adorable and like he hadn’t slept a wink, and Bates couldn’t keep the smile off his face (though it did make his head hurt a little more). And as much as he wanted to, he didn’t throw his arms around Gleeson’s neck and kiss him good morning. There was a big difference between drunkenly making out with someone and being cute and couple-y (a distinction Bates was all too familiar with).

 

“G, what are you doing here?”

 

“I figured you could use the company. Katie didn’t look like she’d be up to working this morning. Not that you do either–”

 

“Gee, thanks.”

 

“No, I just mean, you can’t have gotten more than a few hours of sleep, and we did drink quite a bit last night.”

 

“Well you don’t look like you’ve slept at all.”

 

Gleeson shrugged. “I didn’t, I was thinking.” For the life of him, Bates couldn’t glean the subtext that was clearly lurking in that sentence. “But I wasn’t awake at 4:30 yesterday morning.”

 

“True, but you still need sleep.” But Bates was glad of his company, so he didn’t push it when Gleeson only shrugged again. Bates pulled out the keys and gestured him inside. He busied himself behind the counter while Gleeson took his time following him in and breaking the silence.

 

“I think I can safely say we’re both having mocha lattes today.”

 

“Obviously. I need caffeine in an I.V.”

 

Gleeson chuckled. “Nice Gilmore Girls reference.”

 

Bates smiled back as he dumped beans in the grinder. “I didn’t actually think you’d get that.”

 

“Nah, the only things you say that I don’t understand are your Avatar references.”

 

“We’ll fix that.”

 

“I imagine we will.”

 

_Was_ there subtext? Or was it Bates just being paranoid? Also, why were they not talking about the thing they both most wanted to talk about? Bates was far too tired to try and puzzle anything out. Coffee first.

 

Gleeson stood on the other side of the counter while Bates waited for the coffee to brew. It was like any normal day, only it wasn’t. No one else was in the shop, not even Katie. They weren’t making jokes or talking about the most recent episode of Doctor Who. The silence wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but the silence itself was unusual enough. There was nothing to take Bates’s mind off the memories of the night before and how warm and wonderful Gleeson’s arms were and how straight up great kissing him had been. He sincerely hoped they could figure out their shit soon, but for once, Bates couldn’t think of something to say to breach the gap.

 

 

He grabbed a mug for himself and a to go cup for Gleeson. Then he picked up the marker he used to write out people’s orders and Gleeson’s puns. There was understanding in Gleeson’s eyes, along with confusion. Bates tried to hide the shiver that ran down his spine at the intensity of Gleeson’s gaze by focusing on the coffee.

 

On Gleeson’s cup, he wrote the pun he’d been saving: _Words cannot espresso what you bean to me._ He added a heart underneath, just in case the message wasn’t clear enough. He added an extra shot of espresso to both lattes, as well as all the chocolate syrup that would dissolve. Then, taking a deep breath, he took both steaming cups around the counter. Whatever happened next, Bates didn’t want any separation between the two of them.

 

With the same formal bow he used on the day they met, Bates presented Gleeson’s coffee to him. “Your libation, sir.” Tired as he clearly was, Gleeson couldn’t seem to suppress a giggle. Bates took that as a good sign. They touched their coffees together and drank.

 

“Peter was okay?” Bates asked. What he really wanted to do was force Gleeson to read his not-so-subtle message, but he supposed he would have to eventually.

 

“Yeah. I had to proverbially smack him on the head a bit until he stopped ranting about Katie. He can hold his alcohol but sometimes it makes him into a bit of an asshole. I made him come home with me right after you guys left. Katie’s good, too?”

 

“With Bink to basically carry her home, yes. She was pretty ticked off, too, she seems to have a thing for your friend Luke.”

 

Gleeson rolled his eyes. “Finally. He's been keen on her for ages.”

 

“Good to know that Katie and Peter didn’t ruin that.” It was the perfect opportunity, Bates just had to be Gryffindor enough to take it. “I was pretty ticked at her too, you know.”

 

Something clicked in Gleeson’s slightly bloodshot (but still lovely) eyes. He _had_ to know. Didn’t he? “Oh yeah?”

 

It was almost a dare. There was that look in his eyes, the look that made it impossible for Bates not to kiss him the night before. But two could play at that game. “That pun isn’t going to read itself, you know.”

 

Gleeson held his gaze for a moment longer, as though _he_ were the one who couldn’t look away from Bates, instead of the other way around. Then finally, finally, he lowered his eyes to the flimsy paper cup in his hand. He seemed to take forever to read it before a grin grew on his face and he burst out laughing, shaking his head.

 

“You’re ridiculous,” he declared, putting his empty cup (finished in record time) down on the counter.

 

“Hey, as long as it works, you don’t get to criticize my methods.”

 

“Methods for what?”

 

“ _Wooing._ ” Bates dragged out the ‘oo’ and ended up sounding as immature as possible while trying to contain his grin. He took a step closer and _wow_ , Glesson was really tall and also his eyes were kind of stunning. But Bates didn’t have to stop looking anymore.

 

“Put your mug down.”

 

Bates had to shake himself out of his daze of perfect happiness. (He could imagine Katie saying _Actual Disney princess_ before pretending to vomit.) “What?”

 

“I don’t want you spilling coffee when I kiss you.”

 

He obeyed, with a heart beating triple time and a grin on his face.

 

Their second kiss was even better than the first. This time, they kissed with the certainty that there would be more. This time they went slowly, like it wasn’t five minutes before the shop was supposed to open. This time, Gleeson tasted like chocolate.

 

They paused (Bates knew it was a pause because they were no longer kissing but their faces were still wonderfully close together), and Gleeson asked, “Can we cut all the crap of being uncertain about what we are and just pretend we’ve been dating this whole time so I can ask you to be my boyfriend without it being a weird thing to do?”

 

“Yes and no and yes.”

 

“I’m a little lost, but I think you just agreed to be my boyfriend.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a CD.

 

“Oh, old school.” Bates took it and started giggling helplessly. “You made me a mix. And it is called _Songs Proving My Music Taste Isn’t Nearly As Sophisticated As You Think It Is And Also Proving That I Like You Quite A Lot by Fall Out Boy._ Was this what you were doing all night?”

 

“Some of it, yeah. Mostly I just couldn’t get you out of my head.”

 

Bates leaned his head in (or rather, up) and rested his forehead against Gleeson’s. “Same.”

 

And they were kissing again, and if hearts could fill with so much light that they literally explode, that’s what Bates’s heart would be doing. He rose onto his toes in an effort to pull himself closer, and between that and Gleeson’s legs they weren’t the most stable, but every time they stumbled they just broke apart and giggled for a second before kissing some more.

 

That is, until Bates heard a familiar tap on the glass and they broke apart for good. (For the moment, anyway.) Gleeson was blushing furiously and Bates was doing that stupid thing with his hand rubbing his hair as he opened the door for Ellen.

 

“Hi,” he said sheepishly. It was like being caught making out by his mum. Worse, because Ellen was going to tease him about it for a month, and better, because… well, it was Ellen and not his mum.

 

“Hello, George.” If such a dignified woman could smirk, that was exactly what she was doing as she strolled to the counter and Bates poured her coffee and got her scone.

 

“George Gleeson, I presume?” she asked, extending a hand to the boy in question. “Ellen Walker. George has told me so much about you.”

 

Gleeson seemed a little dazed, like he was meeting J.K. Rowling or something. Taking the offered hand, he replied, “Likewise.”

 

“Not all of it good, I hope.” Along with the smirk, there was a wicked gleam in her eye. Bates was torn between wanting to do something to help and giggling behind the display cases.

 

But Gleeson finally got ahold of himself and laughed. “Everything makes sense now.”

 

Ellen raised an eyebrow, amused.

 

“Why you two get along so well,” Gleeson clarified. “Ms. Walker, I believe we will be good friends.”

 

The smirk was back on her face. “I believe we shall. Not the kind of friends you and George Bates are, I should imagine.” They both blushed, and there was a triumphant gleam in her eye. “But good friends all the same. As I was telling George the other day, anyone who makes him so happy is a friend to me.” Her voice dropped dangerously. “So I needn’t tell you what will become of you if you break his heart.”

 

Gleeson couldn’t help but gulp a little (like this was a film or something, Bates obviously thought it was adorable) and Bates thrust her plate and mug towards her with a pointed look. “No. And I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.” Not for a while. (Or at all.)

 

“Of course not. Now, how much prying will I have to do before one of you tells me why you both look like you’ve been propping your eyelids open with toothpicks?”

 

She eventually got the whole story out of them without too much prying on her part and without too much resistance on theirs. Ellen was the perfect audience, and Bates couldn’t be happier that she was the first to know. He also couldn’t help but glow when he saw how well his boyfriend (he wanted to dance and jump up and down just thinking it) and his mentor (was it corny to call her that? Because it was true) were getting along so well. Ellen ended up staying longer than she usually did, chatting with Gleeson while Bates was occupied with the morning rush. Once his boss arrived, things got easier, but once the crazy rush of having to do everything himself wore away, and the euphoria of him and Gleeson finally being a Thing had subsided in the wake of coffee coffee coffee, the exhaustion and the headache returned and made things more miserable again.

 

Sean, bless his heart, noticed pretty quickly. At around 11, he told Bates matter of factly, “I know you were up with Katie until all hours of the night, and, frankly, you look like hell. Go home, I can manage by myself until the shift is over.” Maybe Sean glanced knowingly at Gleeson and Ellen chatting almost conspiratorially with their heads together. Whatever the reason, Bates could not be happier. He hung up his apron in the back and thanked Sean profusely, then headed over to Ellen and Gleeson’s table.

 

They were both chuckling, but Gleeson stopped abruptly when he saw Bates. Bates decided _not_ to ask what they’d been talking about.

 

“Oh, are you on break?”

 

“Nope, Sean let me off early. Apparently I look like hell.”

 

Gleeson responded, “No, you don’t,” at the same time Ellen said, “Of course you do.” At which point Ellen lightly slapped Gleeson’s hand and said, “Lying to him helps absolutely no one. You both look terrible and need to go sleep, so I,” she stood and gathered her things, “will leave you to it.” She thankfully refrained from winking, but there was a tone in her voice that made Bates blush. At least Gleeson didn’t seem to get it.

 

Once Ellen was gone, though, Bates’s embarrassment turned to nerves. Small ones, but still.

 

“Okay, this might sound weird, but the only thing I can think about doing right now is collapsing the second I get home. But I don’t want to say goodbye to you yet.” He knew what the answer would be when he saw a grin grow on Gleeson’s face, but he asked anyway. “Can I interest you in coming to my apartment purely so I can use you as a pillow?”

 

“As your exhausted boyfriend, I cannot think of a better way to spend this afternoon.”

 

So they walked, Bates tucked comfortably under Gleeson’s arm, leaning into him as much as their combined balance could allow. Within a half an hour, after convincing Gleeson that Bates would _not_ feel weird if he took his prosthetics off, they were tucked into Bates’s too small bed in much the same position.

 

Bates found out the next day that mornings were even better when he woke up next to George Gleeson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done! I am a steaming pile of sap. Hope I could drag you down with me, at least for a little while. You can listen to Gleeson's playlist [here](http://8tracks.com/jenna-katz-50/songs-proving-my-music-taste-isn-t-nearly-as-sophisticated-as-you-think-it-is-and-also-proving-that-)


End file.
